You are now in San Diego County category.

OPINION: Lawmakers Pump the Brakes After Gov. Jerry Brown Goes Full Throttle on Pet Projects

Gov. Jerry Brown’s two very pricey legacy projects took hits in the Legislature last week. They were light jabs, and he didn’t even flinch.

But the fact that some fellow Democrats had the temerity to challenge the popular governor was a sign of growing legislative — and public — skepticism about these highly controversial pet projects. One legislative committee advanced a bill that would force the Brown administration to be more open and candid about the $64-billion, zigzagging bullet train.

San Diego County Used 17% Less Water In March

San Diegans used 17 percent less water last month than in March 2013, beating the state-mandated goal of a 13 percent reduction, the San Diego County Water Authority announced Monday.

March was the first month in which lowered conservation targets were in effect. The former goal was 20 percent, but the state eased its orders for agencies in the San Diego region after the desalination plant in Carlsbad began production.Since the mandates went into effect last June, the cumulative reduction has been 21 percent, the water authority reported.

California Weighs Sharing ‘Pain’ of Colorado River Cuts

With the Colorado River tapped beyond its limits and the level of Lake Mead in decline, representatives of California, Arizona and Nevada say they’ve been making progress in negotiating an agreement for all three states to share in water cutbacks in order to stave off a more severe shortage.

Officials who have been involved in the talks over the past several months cautioned that the details have yet to be finalized, and said difficult negotiations remain between water districts and among the states.

San Diegans Beat Water Reduction Goal in March 2016

San Diegans used 17 percent less water last month than in March 2013, beating the state-mandated goal of a 13 percent reduction, the San Diego County Water Authority announced Monday.

March was the first month in which lowered conservation targets were in effect. The former goal was 20 percent, but the state eased its orders for agencies in the San Diego region after the desalination plant in Carlsbad began production. Since the mandates went into effect last June, the cumulative reduction has been 21 percent, the SDCWA reported.

California Water Board Denies Bias Claims in Delta Tunnels Dispute

On Monday, State Water Resources Control Board Chair Felicia Marcus and board member Tam Doduc said there was no merit to a claim filed last month by the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority that accused them of having already made up their minds about a critical issue that could translate into less water delivered to south state water agencies that depend on water pumped from the Delta.

A Group That Was Happy With El Nino This year? Surfers and the Big Wave Awards

It was a wave-riding year for the record books. Surfers gathered in Anaheim on Saturday to celebrate this El Niño season that produced massive waves around the world and allowed big-wave surfers to make history. The Big Wave Awards, in its 16th year, celebrates an elite crop of surfers who take on building-size waves – a feat few in the world can achieve.

San Clemente’s Greg Long was crowned World Surf League Big Wave Tour Champion. It’s Long’s second time earning the title; the first was secured in 2012.

 

In Owens Valley, They’re Skeptical of Angelenos Bearing Gifts, Including New Artwork

Los Angeles insists that it had the best of intentions as it erected the monument of granite and sculpted earth that is now rising from a dry bed of Owens Lake 200 miles to the north.

Department of Water and Power officials saw it as a gesture of reconciliation for taking the region’s water more than a century ago. The interactive artwork, to be unveiled this week, features a public plaza with curved granite walls inspired by the wing shapes of shorebirds. Sculptures of earth and rock have been made to resemble whitecaps. Scenic gravel trails wind throughout.